Sniff Off

Sniff Off: No More Drug Dogs!

The Greens NSW are the only major party in NSW that opposes the police use of drug dogs. The use of dogs is ineffective at catching drug dealers but has resulted in substantial impacts on civil liberties.Through questions in Parliament we have gotten the real statistics from police on the effectiveness of drug sniffer dogs in NSW.
According to the figures, drug dogs falsely indicate the presence of drugs between 64-72% of the time. Despite this, police use drug dog indications to conduct intrusive public searches.
The drug dogs program costs NSW hundreds of thousands of dollars each years, and seriously impacts your right to privacy. On top of that a 2006 Ombudsman’s report recommended the immediate end of the program.The drug dogs program focuses on music festivals, bars, public transport and Redfern which means it targets young people, Aboriginal communities and the poor. Most people who are found with drugs are carrying small amounts of cannabis – they are not dealers. After an indication from a drug dog the police can search you, even though they know the indication likely does not mean drugs are present. The police can strip search you if they deem it necessary in the circumstances. Furthermore drugs sniffer dogs do not encourage safe drug taking. Two young Australians have died at festivals when they swallowed all of their drugs at once to avoid detection.
Sadly, the Labor and Liberal parties support the widespread use of drug sniffer dogs in NSW. The Greens value civil liberties and a sensible drug policy. Join us to campaign against against this discriminatory policing practice.The campaign so far

We are campaigning online, on the ground and in the media. David hosted a community forum in Redfern, a community which is disproportionately targeted by police drug dogs. Speakers included Ray Jackson from the Indigenous Social Justice Association, Kyol Blakeney from the University of Sydney Students Representative Council, Jenny Leong the Greens candidate for Newtown and Miles Hunt from Unharm.

Our volunteers have been handing out information on drug dogs at festivals, bars and train stations where people are harassed by police. Many people we speak to have had negative experiences with drug dogs.

In parliament we have obtained detailed statistics documenting the failure of drug dogs, and generated media such as articles in the Sydney Morning Herald and ABC.

1. We have produced a leaflet with helpful information about the effectiveness of drug dogs and what to do when dealing with police. If you would like copies to hand out feel free to contact the office, or alternatively print it out yourself using this file.

2. You can contact the office of Stuart Ayres, Minister for Police and Emergency Services at office@ayres.minister.nsw.gov.au, or Steve Whan, Shadow Minister for Police at steve.whan@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Both major parties support the use of drug dogs but will change their position if enough voters make their voices heard.